Women in Prison

Beauty and violence is something that cinema artists like to combine. And this is how Women in Prison films appear. The movies of this genre are a mixture of erotic adventures of the girls in captivity. Prison guards force them doing whatever they want, and girls looking for support from each other often end up with hot and tender sexual relations.

At the very beginning such movies had no sex episodes, they showed the truly story of women being in prison, demonstrating their life, relationships, problems, etc. This was not obviously a prison, it could be any other conditions that limited women’s freedom of actions. But always such films were a source of enjoyment for those, who like sophisticated erotica with violence.

The first Women in Prison motion picture was called ‘Hold Your Man’, and contained only a few scenes of women’s imprisoning. It was a movie made by Jean Harlow. For a long time, until 1950’s there were no other WIP movies, as this theme was rather painful for society due to wars, and it was not popular to create erotic movies based on imprisoning and violence. Not earlier than in 1950, the next Women in Prison filmwas released. It was ‘Caged’ drama. It was followed by ‘Women’s Prison’ in 1955, and this was a year when a real boom for WIP moviesstarted. Later, as the number of Women in Prison movies grew, a typical scenario was formed. Some innocent girl appeared to be stolen or imprisoned by cruel insidious politicians or bandits and had to fight with circumstances, resisting the orders of strict overseers and cellmates or obeying their natural curiosity to unusual sexual pleasures. The flourishing of this genre development was in 1970’s, when the most of world-known masterpieces were produced. These are ‘Big Bird Cage’ from the USA filmmakers, ‘Bamboo House of Dolls’ from Hong Kong movie artists, ‘Ilsa The Tigress of Siberia’ from Canadian directors.

As the interest to such videos grew more and more, the world became freer in sexual behaviour, demanded more demonstrations of love and sex, Women in Prison movies directors satisfied this demand, filling up their masterpieces with sincere erotic scenes, live-like sexual episodes close to pornographic. One of 1970-s WIP films, ‘Prison Girls’, is a great example of this genre – hot, beautiful women, imprisoned, have an opportunity to have a weekend furlough, and spend it on heavy sexual experiences. In ‘New Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701’ you can see a story of Japanese women in captivity, with lots of very life-like scenes. Japanese directors of Women in Prison films are the fans of natural looking stories, that is why they pay much attention on the naturalness. As for Hollywood filmmakers, they are the admirers of artistic women’s beauty, exaggerated and concentrated to the peak of what a man can imagine. And their fantastically looking heroines usually struggle in some exotic countries. There are a lot of stories of women’s adduction by some African or Asian bandits, or unexpected imprisoning during travels to some exotic places of the planet. ‘Big Doll House’ is one of a wonderful Women in Prison stories that demonstrate gorgeous exotic women gathered in one small prison.

Newer movies like Spanish ‘Furia en el trópico’ (1986) or American ‘Prison Heat’ contain more truly erotica very close to porn movies. They can be called an ‘artistic porn’ stories with bright scenes of heterosexual, group and lesbian sex.

The WIP genre is mostly associated with retro movies of the last century. Enjoyment from viewing such unusual films is usually a thing you want to feel again and again.

i have loved wip movies for as long as i can remember. i prefer those in which at least one lady is executed, however. still, even if they all survive until the end of the film, the eroticism makes it worth while

There are some other early movies in which there are substantial parts of the movie set in a women’s jail. Two based on the same story come to mind.

In two separate 1924 cases, attractive women in Chicago were accused of murdering their lovers: Belva Gaertner, a cabaret singer, and Beulah Annan, a laundress. They met in Cook County Jail and became rivals in the jail and in competition for favorable newspaper coverage. Much of the coverage focused on the good looks and stylishness of the women and on outrageous statements by the women and aspects of the case.

Maurine Watkins covered both stories as a reporter and in 1926, her play, “Chicago,” based on the cases and the rivalry, was produced. In 1927, a silent movie based on the play and also called “Chicago” was released, starring Phyllis Havers as Roxie Hart (the Annan character). In 1942, this film was remade (rather loosely) as “Roxie Hart” with Ginger Rogers in the title role.

[Later, of course, the play was adapted to a musical (1975) that was filmed in 2002 (with Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere).]

There is another, even earlier film focused on a woman going to prison. It was produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, perhaps the most famous film-maker of Hollywood’s first decades, probably most associated with his two films “The Ten Commandments” (1923, 1956). In “Manslaughter” (1921 or possibly 1922), prison has a positive, reforming effect on Lydia (Leatrice Joy), turning her from a spoiled, thrill-seeking, modern-living “flapper” into a modest, demure woman ready for marriage and motherhood.

Exploitation fans, though, needn’t worry, as Lydia’s fiance compares her depraved lifestyle to the decadence of imperial Rome in court. For the audience’s edification, DeMille kindly provides scenes illustrating this decadence. DeMille, like fellow major early film-maker D. W. Griffith, loved to portray the depravity of Ancient Rome (or Babylon, etc.). If making a biblical or other ancient epic, you have a built-in excuse; if making a moralistic film about a later (especially contemporary) society, you simply show how the behavior of people in the later period resembles Rome before the Fall.